Events in May

Tuesday, May 4 ......Going to the Movies:

Oceans

Friday, May 7...........Nature Walk with naturalist Faye Stoner

...........Exploration classes

Thursday, May 13.. Exploration classes

Thursday, May 20 ..Reflections Night (details coming soon)

Friday, May 21........School closed, report writing day

Monday, May 31.....School closed, Memorial day

"Two Stones, One River" Poem by Jane Yolen

Nothing is a s wise

As water passing stone,

So sure of its position

It can compromise

The path downstream,

Sometimes flooding,

Sometimes ebbing,

And sometimes running

in between.

Water discoveries

On Friday, scientists were at work in the classroom.

With colored water, salt, oil, and soap,

many interesting concoctions were made in test tubes. At one point in the morning, when two colors were added and stayed separated, a child declared "I made tie dye" And thus the "tie dye" effect was born. After that any mixture in which the colors did not mix until shaken was called "tie dye"

The children also created a "water shed" using gravel covered with a mixture of clay and sand.

They created rivers on the hill that flowed as the rain fell.

Chapter Books

The children loved hearing My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett. If you are looking or a book to read with your child, you might consider the other two books in the trilogy: Elmer and the Dragon and The Dragons of Blueland.

We are currently reading Henry and Ribsy by Beverly Cleary. Although Beverly Cleary's books were written in the 1950's, they are still loved by children today. Last week while reading this book, we got into an interesting discussion about how "back then" there were not seat belts in cars and children didn't use car seats. One child explained how her father had to have stitches in his head because he didn't wear a seat belt.

Pennies for Peace

On Friday, Anita talked to all the children about a humanitarian program called "Pennies for Peace". She read us a story and showed us a short video about the program. Then she gave each classroom a jar to collect pennies. The pennies collected by our school will help to provide educational materials for children in Central Asia.

So if you and your child have pennies laying around, bring them in and add to our jar.

Thanks for your support in this project.

To learn more you can go to the Pennies for Peace web site.

Water Cycle Boogie

Chapter Book

We are currently reading My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett. I asked the children if anyone had heard this story before. Lots of hands went up so I was going to read something else. When I suggested this, the children groaned and insisted they wanted to hear it again. It proves, a good story, you want to hear and read over and over again.

FestiFools

I entered Palio parking lot, to a mass of people and puppets, wondering if I would find our group in the controlled chaos. Soon I spotted many smiling faces, swinging ribbons, and Medusa's snaky hair in the crowd.

After weeks of watching the puppet construction unfold, suddenly the puppets were brought to life

by their skilled puppeteers. As the parade

proceeded down Main Street there were cheers and applause from the crowd who gathered along the street. The children beamed with pride.

When the parade ended hot and tired children collapsed on the curb. Arms and feet were weary but there was also a sense of accomplishment in the air.

Thank you to Ruth and the children for another memorable SK event

Community

You may have heard the interview this morning on NPR, with neuroscientist Adele Diamond, on the development of the brain. One thing she discussed is how there is a strong link between the social and cognitive development of the brain. Children who have learning and playing experiences with other children as part of their education, have better "executive functions" such as focus on a task and problem solving.

Summers-Knoll's curriculum has always stressed children learning, working, and playing together. Along with the interactive activities in individual classrooms, we also have learning and playing experiences with children from other classes. This helps build the sense of community, as well enhances the cognitive development of the children.

Friday, was a day of community building. We spent the day learning, cooperating, and discovering together.

In the morning, our class gave short reports about "our favorite" owl, Molly, to Renata's class. Then we got in small groups to dissect owl pellets.

After lunch we got together with Susan's class and read together.

Everyone joined together ending the day at the County Farm park building, constructing, and playing together